Goal Progress and Creativity in ES

Week 21: January 27 – 31

Goal Progress and Creativity in ES

“Excellence is not a destination. It is a continuous journey that never ends.” – Brain Tracy

When we find something that is off in a system, a growth mindset would say, “We can change this. Let’s make an improvement.” This week, elements of the Journey Tracker goal-setting and point-claiming system proved to not match what the heroes needed at that current time. So, after investigation and dialogue, the improvements were made! One change, for example, rewards heroes with points for focused work-flow time and effort in a program rather than “finishing a level” or “completing 1%.” The heroes have agreed that so far, the system’s improvements have been very beneficial.

Many progressive elements of this week included heroes tackling their session goals, growth in holding each other accountable, and leading and discussing studio topics in Town Hall Meeting. Two topics up for discussion this week included: “How can we conserve more printer ink?” and “Does the vestibule studio maintenance job deserve to be paid?”

Each week, academic check-ins provide a great time for the heroes to reflect on goal progress, daily habits, and work ethic.

What programs can you set goals for? Out of these, which programs are part of your session goals? How do you decide when to spend time working on the non-session goal programs?

This hero’s effort and hard work led her to celebrate the finishing of a level in her language skills and grammar program. You persevered in the midst of challenges! The heroes are enjoying their new progress-tracking charts for Lexia!

The “Leading Discussions” label was moved a smidgen closer to the Heroes side on the Responsibilities Continuum. Our goal moving forward is to have the heroes lead more and more discussions.

Thinking and creativity! The heroes developed creative story problems to address this question: “The answer is 9. What is the problem?” A growth mindset says, “I can stick to it and not give up easily.”

Leadership, delegation, problem solving, and collaborative planning!

A huge amount of time, focus, and effort has been devoted to earning her 3rd grade math badge!!

Mail delivery! The heroes created a pulley system to transport messages from one person to another. Which way do you have to pull the cord to move the message in the direction that you want it to go? The second challenge was to test the heroes’ hypotheses of how many marbles they could transport on the pulley system without the cup spilling or breaking off. What is your hypothesis?

Rube Goldberg chain-reaction machines continue to be constructed!  “We learn the most from the failed attempts.” The heroes selected a breakfast theme for the Rube Goldberg Machine that will be created for the exhibition. Planning and designs are in progress! Building will start next week.

Have you asked your hero:

• What programs can you set goals for? Of these programs, what programs are part of your sessions goals? How do you decide when to spend time working on the non-session goal programs?
• How often were you in work flow this week? How did your work flow impact your progress on the goal you were working on?
• What do you hope to learn about Dr. T (also know as “Doc”)?
• What will be important for making Dr. T feel welcome and accepted at Journey?
• 9 is the answer. What’s the problem? (What creative math story problem can you write?)
• If you could lead any discussion in the studio, what topic would you choose?
• How have you held your fellow heroes accountable to the Rules of Engagement and the Hero’s Contract?
• What new ideas do you have for your breakfast-themed Exhibition Rube Goldberg Machine?

See you next week!